The americana is a very popular submission in BJJ. The americana armlock in BJJ is a simple submission that involves bending someone’s arm backwards in a way that puts an immense amount of pressure on their elbow and shoulder, and can cause serious damage if they don’t tap. That simplicity along with the pain and damage the americana armlock can cause makes it a very popular submission in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and in a real street fight.
The americana is a popular submission from mount, side control, and half guard, but can also work from the full guard position. The americana from guard doesn’t look exactly like the typical americana submissions, but it does put the same stress on the arm joints and is a useful addition to your guard game.
This is also a great addition to your usual transition between arm bar and triangle and offer another option to get the submission that your opponent may not be looking to defend automatically. It can even be added to your arm bar triangle omoplata drill to keep it in your mind while rolling.
Start: Guard
Step 1: Bring one leg up to just under opponent’s armpit and turn it 90 degrees across their body, dragging their shoulder down the same as an armbar from guard setup
Step 2: Bring other up onto opponent’s shoulder and cross feet to secure position
Step 3: When opponent fights arm bar by pivoting towards your lower leg, grip their wrist on the higher leg side pushing out and into your higher leg, keeping their thumb up
Step 4: bridge your hips into your opponent
Finish: Submission via americana from guard